Mosasaurus was a reptile-like creature with an elongated skull. Its appendages were changed into flippers with fewer digits and toe bones and smaller leg bone fragments than their forebears. Researchers remain split over the specific connections of Mosasaurus about whether monitor lizards or serpents are indeed the nearest extant descendants.
The Megalodon, a colossus of the oceans, reigned as a prehistoric giant with its immense size and powerful jaws equipped with hundreds of deadly teeth. Megalodon was much larger than mosasaurus in terms of size and weight. However, both were apex predators of their respective times.
Even the newborn baby megalodons where fairly large measuring between 6 – 11 ft. long at birth according to research. In terms of longevity the estimated lifespan of the megalodon is around 20 – 40 years.
The blue whale is a marine mammal measuring up to 98 feet in length and with a maximum recorded weight of 190 short tons, it is the largest animal known to have ever existed.
While a similar length, the Megalodon had a much more robust body and huge jaws built for devouring whales and other large marine mammals. A Mosasaurus would not have been able to get its jaws around the much thicker body of the Megalodon.
Yes, in terms of size and brute strength, the megalodon was stronger than the mosasaurus due to its immense size and biting power. This does not mean that he won in a direct confrontation.
Is A Mosasaurus a dinosaur or a shark?
Mosasaurs are not dinosaurs. They are reptiles related to snakes and monitor lizards. The Mosasaurus shown in the Jurassic Park movie was 59 ft, the largest mosasaur.
At up to 59 feet long, Mosasaurus hoffmanni was bigger than even the largest Megalodon sharks. Mosasaurs went extinct 65.5 million years ago after an asteroid crashed into Earth.
Mosasaurus had a streamlined body, an elongated tail, and two pairs of flippers suiting it for aquatic life. Their double-hinged jaws opened wide to feast on ocean life including plesiosaurs and sharks.
In Jurassic World, a Mosasaurus performs in shows eating sharks. Mosasaurus was not a dinosaur but a marine reptile more related to modern snakes and monitor lizards, adapted to aquatic life.
The name Mosasaurus means “lizard of the Meuse River,” where a fossil was first found. Mosasaurus fossils have been found with shark teeth embedded in them.
How did Mosasaurus go extinct?
Mosasaurus went extinct due to the K-Pg extinction event. By the end of the Cretaceous, mosasaurs were at the evolutionary radiation height. During the late Maastrichtian, global sea levels dropped, draining the continents of their nutrient-rich seaways. This reduced the number of available habitats for Mosasaurus.
The mosasaurs disappeared from the fossil record alongside non-avian dinosaurs 65.5 million years ago after a giant asteroid crashed into Earth. Bite marks and fossils suggest mosasaurs often fought and ate each other. Mosasaurus fossils have been found in places such as South Carolina and Alabama.
Mosasaurus became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction, the same that killed non-avian dinosaurs. When the asteroid hit, much dust went into the atmosphere severely altering the ocean climate, getting a lot colder.
A Mosasaurus would not have been able to get its jaws around the much thicker Megalodon body. One catastrophic Megalodon bite could end the battle. Plesiosaurs died out 66 million years ago, along with the dinosaurs.
Mosasaurs probably evolved from extinct aquatic lizards in the Early Late Cretaceous containing 41 genera. They became extinct due to the K-Pg event 66 million years ago. Mosasaurus is named for its initial fossil discovery sites close to the Meuse River. Researchers remain split whether monitor lizards or snakes are the nearest living descendants. Mosasaurs coexisted with other large carnivorous mosasaurs considered apex predators, most notably the Tylosaurines and Prognathodon. Documented cases of interspecies cannibalism occurred.
What is the closest living relative to the Mosasaurus?
Snakes and Monitor Lizards are the closest living relatives to the Mosasaurus. The Mosasaurus Family had become very diverse with some species being found all the way from Africa to Antarctica. Mosasaurus Hoffmannii is the largest Mosasaur Family member Known to date.